I remember the feeling of trepidation as I picked up my brand new
Yamaha Super Tenere XT1200Z from Keith Dixon Motorcycles in Accrington. Saying farewell
to my trusty FJR1300 was tough. I’d not had a single issue with “The Beast” in
the 2 years and 40,000 miles of ownership.
So why did I swap such a great bike for the Super
Tenere? Good question! Two reasons really first the value of the FJR1300 was
about to drop through the floor as soon as I went over 40,000 miles. I’d
already been insulted on a number of occasions by various dealers offering me a
paltry £4,300 for what was in essence a £9,000 bike only 2 years earlier purely
because it had such “high mileage”. The second reason I discovered taking the Super
Tenere out for the day whilst the FJR13000 had its 38,000 miles service. It was
just so easy to ride, light, nimble but not twitchy and I just loved the riding
position. It took all the strain out of my back, shoulders and wrists. Don’t
get me wrong The FJR1300 was comfortable and a dream to ride but the Super
Tenere just sat me straight up removing all the discomforts that I had been
living with for the last 2 years.
Truth be known, I would have loved to have been able
to keep the FJR1300 and bought the Super Tenere. Now that would have been an absolutely
awesome combination to have in the garage but life’s never quite that perfect.
Plus I also know I was just about to embark on a very expensive “Farkling” campaign.
Just how expensive was to become apparent over the coming 10 months because
that’s how long it took me to change this beautiful black Super Tenere into my
Mr T!
Mr T at The Cat & Fiddle
Derbyshire - England
2011
June
- So our journey to enlightenment began with me taking J over to her
friends to drop of a birthday card for her daughter followed by a ride over to
my Dad’s to scrub in the new tyres. Mr T gets his first outing ………… at last! Was
my very first Blog about Mr T. I read it now and can truly say I still feel
exactly the same the Super Tenere is an amazing bike to ride and now I have
finished setting him up perfectly for myself (all be it I’ve still to sort the
seat).
July
- After doing a few “Farkles” which included, fitting the SatCom1 intercom, fitting the Garmin 660 along with a
hand full of “Touratech” goodies it was time for Ben & I to go on our first
adventure, Monaco or Bust ……. Bust it is then! The ride flagged up a couple of
issues that I had not really thought about but ultimately sent me off at a
tangent changing the skid plate, panniers, hand guards and engine bars. Oh to
be a normal run of the mill biker who’s happy just having a great bike parked
up in the garage. After the bike had fallen over with Ben still sat on it I
knew I’d have to re-build Bens confidence in Mr T from scratch.
I got stuck into getting Ben relaxed on the bike by
having the following weekend in Derbyshire, The Wandering Walton’s visit Derbyshire turned out to be just the tonic. We had a brilliant time and it was so nice to take Ben on a tour
of my old stomping ground. We both really did have a great time but I could
still sense Ben was very nervous to sit on the bike alone, seems only time was
going to sort that out.
August
- Had me buying and “Fitting Metal Mule Panniers to Mr T” from eBay in silver.
Not a great choice but at least the rack would remain even if the panniers were
to be sold on to a Triumph Bonneville Café Racer riding photographer in
Manchester of all people.
September
- I found a brand new pair of black Metal Mules on eBay again belonging to an
Paris Dakar Racer called Sean who lived in Cambridge. Mr T’s new Metal MulePanniers was quickly followed by Time to turn on those lights. In fact
September saw me fitting quite a few Touratech parts to Mr T. Touratech must
have thought their golden chicken had laid its first half dozen egg’s. I went a
little mad with lights, guards of every description, screen adjuster, Sat Nav
mount, top box and rack, the list went on and on. Still at least J &
I had a fantastic if not somewhat wet riding weekend in Moffat with the Manc
Riders which was brilliant. 33 Miles to Moffat…… is one of my favourite Blogs
of 2012.
Jeannie getting ready for another mooch!
Moffat - Scotland
October
-
Saw me attending the 2011 Ride to The Wall, RTTR 2011, Fitting AltRider crash bars
and skid plate and even announcing that “Mr T is Done!” All I needed to do then
was try out all the new toys and so it was off to Colditz in former East
Germany. Time to Try out Mr T’s new toys……. Colditz sounds good, the ride turned out to
be a very emotional time on a personal front. Meeting two of my children in
German for the first time in 18 years.
Mr T & Ron's BMW 1200 GSA taking a brake
Colditz - Germany
November
– Mr T had his 6,000 mile service, done! followed later in the month with a ride
to the NEC Bike Show 2011 where I met and spoke to both Sam Manicom who I’m still in
touch with and Nick Sanders.
December
– I did very little with Mr T instead I concentrated on finishing the re-build
of Trinity Ben’s 1993 Kawasaki ZXR L1 and finally produced The Wandering Walton’s 2011 Review…. A year of three parts.
January
– “Out and about …….. in this weather” saw me visiting my Mum’s grave in Temple
Normanton followed by a tour around the Peak District stopping of at The Cat
& Fiddle for a coffee before heading home. 6 months of ownership and it was
Tyre Time for Mr T. I went with Continental Trail Attacks which I’m pleased to
look back and say where brilliant returning 10,000 miles for the £241 invested.
The Metzler Tourance had given me 7,500 good miles but the confidence building
grip of the new Continental Trail Attacks were something else.
February
– Now this is when I really did lose the “Farkling” plot and decided to have a
petrol tank fabricated. I was so sick of filling up at 220 miles with a maximum
range of 255 miles to almost empty. The XT1200Z Tank Conversion Project got
under way and without doubt drew more attention to this Blog than any other
post. I tipped over the 10,000 hits mark and was absolutely ecstatic, we even
had a celebratory drink I was so chuffed.
I managed to finally get Trinity finished and
running only to be covered up again and not touched now for 3 months bar the
odd “viewing” by interested visitors. Ben & I headed to the Over-Landers
Meeting being held at the Ace Café in London when Little Ben meets Big Ben
turned out to be a great day. Ben got his picture taken with Sam, Birgit &
Paddy which I’ve got to admit I’m really proud of as their all great people
whom I respect immensely. Ron took us on a whistle stop tour of the city which
was just out of this world and I’m eternally great full to him for making Ben’s
day so magnificent. Only down side was when the heated gloves decided to cook
Bens hands as we headed back up the A1. Hey ho, these things are sent to test
us and test us they do. Shortly after the Ace Café ride Ben & I took off
for weekend in Waterloo at the Butte de Lion. IBA UK February 2012 RTE in
Belgium.
Ben trying Mr T on for size, soon Ben, soon!
Ouddorp - Netherlands
As it was a leap year this year I took up Phil’s
challenge and rode 1000 miles around the UK on The “Leap of Faith” SS1000 which
took 17 hours and 17 minutes after which Jeannie and I went out for tea
followed by a couple of pints at our local as it fell on a Wednesday.
March
– It’s non-stop in the Walton Household and true to form March was to no different
with me riding to Spain and back. Blogging on the way down Rochdale to Reims inthe rain….. and then some followed by The road to Zaragoza on the way home. The
best bit of the trip was picking Jeannie up from Alicante airport for a long
weekend together, brilliant!
This is close to Eygypt as we can get for now.
Alacante - Spain
As you can imagine Mr T was due some TLC in the form
of Mr T's 12,000 mile service, Done! by the end of the last couple of months outings. This
was me taking it steady.
April
– Our family holiday in Cyprus and The XT1200Z Tank Conversion Project
dominated April with me taking a break from big miles for the month. That’s if
you don’t count our -We’re on the road to nowhere Safari Cyprus style.
May
– Early in Belfast, Breakfast in Cork & Lunch in Letterkenny. Brilliant saw
me ride 1000 miles around Ireland and then straight back home. I was planning
on riding 4,000 in total 1,000 in each of the four countries that make up the United
Kingdom but I got bored. I’d simply spent too much time on my own riding around
and not seeing a thing. Still the IBA UK Brit Butt Rally 2012. A Rookies Prospective sorted that issue out good and proper. It is one of the best rides
I have ever had only tarnished by Ron’s withdrawal from the event due to an oil
pressure light problem. The event is featured in the July issue of Bike
Magazine. I’m in the one picture but just the top box and the back of my head.
Ron’s BMW1200 GSA taking centre stage. What a way to go out in style as the oil
light problem as now been fixed by him buying a Honda Pan European, Top Man.
Roll on IBA UK Brit Butt Rally 2013.
Waiting for the ferry home, only 3 hours to wait.
Belfast - Ireland
June
– And so here we are 12 months later. Mr T has had a great birthday month being
shod in with new tyres. I’m trying Michelin Anakee 2’s this time as I’ve read
some great reviews about them. First impressions are not that great in the wet
to be honest but that’s because they only have 200 miles on them so far. New
tyres were followed by the Mr T's 18,000 mile service... Done! and new rear brake pads. Just
top of the celebrations I splashed out on a new The Series II Expedition Redverz Tent which performed magnificently
at last weekend’s RBLR1000 ride where I helped Paddy & Vicky by issuing the successful riders their IBA
Certificates.
Snug as a bug in a rug.
The Series II Expedition Tent is simply Amazing!
So to conclude, Mr T has covered 18,000 miles in 12
months, had three services working out at 7p a mile servicing/tyre costs, been to 12
different countries and has a new tent. Now that’s what I call being a BIKER is
all about! What do you think?
Next weekend we will be at the Horizons Unlimited
Meeting being held near Belper where Mr T will be posing for pictures and I’ll
be helping Sam out on Recycling Duties (meaning picking up rubbish to me and
you). Hope to see you there.
Just keep an eye out for the number plate with “The Wandering
Walton’s” along the bottom.
Where brave men dare to ride
Say a fond fairwell to Ron's GSA
Tiered but happy.............
Story of my life!
